Privatized Medicaid has four month review

By: 
Travis Fischer

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     The state’s privatized Medicaid program underwent its first quarterly review last week in the Iowa Senate. On Monday, August 29, the Senate’s Health Policy Oversight committee held their first meeting, where they looked over data from the rollout and heard comments from health service providers and Medicaid recipients.
     On April 1, after several months of delay, Iowa turned over the administration of Medicaid services to three for-profit Managed Care Organizations (MCOs). The privatized Medicaid program was initiated by Governor Terry Branstad to mitigate Iowa’s rising share of Medicaid costs. The Branstad administration projected that switching to a privatized system would save the state $51 million in the first six months, later revised to $36.6 million.
     Four months into the program, the state’s quarterly report shows that those projections are on track. During the first four months, the state of Iowa has paid $331 million to the contracted MCOs to handle Medicaid administration. Compared to the $354 million that the state was projected to spend without managed care, this has created a savings for the state of more than $22 million.
    Read the full article in the September 7 edition of the Chronicle.  

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